Scrubbing appliance utilizing a replaceable scrubbing cloth



Oc 8, 1957 J. LICATA 2,808,605

SCRUBBING APPLIANCE UTILIZING A REPLACEABLE SCRUBBING CLOTH Filed April 9, 1956 lim (5 INVENTOR. I JOSEPH L/CA TA BY gromvsrs United States Patentt) ce SCRUBBING APPLIANCE UTILIZING A REPLACE- ABLE SCRUBBING CLOTH Joseph Licata, Pasadena, Calif.

Application April 9, 1956, Serial No. 577,060

1 Claim. (Cl. 151) This invention relates to manually operable hand tools 15 for cleaning, polishing, scrubbing and the like and more generally referred to herein as scrubbing appliances. Specifically, the invention is concerned with structure for supporting a piece of pliant material to a handle.

Pieces of pliant material such as pieces of cloth, for

example, are quite generally held in the hand for the above mentioned purposes. Oftentimes, because of the inaccessibility of the area to be worked on or because of the propriety of involving immediate hand contact in the operation, there is a need for a light weight scrubbing appliance to which such pieces of pliant material may be conveniently attached and detached. For example, the need arises when trying to scrub ones own back while bathing.

Accordingly, the scrubbing appliance of the invention includes a handle, a loop of wire coupled to the handle, and a separate member cooperative with the loop for supporting a piece of pliant material. The member has a narrow portion adapted to fit between the sides of the loop so that the member along with a piece of pliant material can be thus engaged by the loop with portions of the material caught between the sides of the loop and the narrow portion of the member.

While the wire loop is preferred, the general requirement is an extension coupled to the handle, the extension having a pair of portions resiliently spaced apart near its far end. These portions then correspond to the sides of the loop mentioned above.

Detailed aspects of a preferred embodiment of the invention will be more clearly understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of the apparatus of the invention disassembled;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the apparatus of the invention assembled but without any pliant material;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the apparatus of the invention assembled with pliant material in place; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, a pair of wires 10, 12 are coupled to a handle 14. The handle is preferably of plastic material with the wires embedded in it at one end. The wires extend for a distance away from the handle in the same direction in spaced side by side relationship. 0 The wires then bend to extend in spaced side by side relationship for a distance in said same direction on a lower level. As evident in the drawings, in the region joining the lower level portion to the upper level portion of the wires as viewed in the Figs. 1 and 2, the wires are formed with intermediate U-shaped portions lying in a common plane extending substantially at right angles to the longitudinal extent of the parallel portions of the wires. The functions of these intermediate U-shaped portions will be made apparent by the subsequent description. The wires 7 are joined at their far ends thereby forming the wire on the lower level into an elongated wire loop portion 16 2,808,605 Patented Oct. 8,1957

opening toward the handle. The bend in the wires is more apparent in Fig. 3.

A separate member 18 is designed to cooperate with the wire loop 16 for supporting a piece of pliant material. The member has a base portion 20 and a button portion 22, with a narrow portion 24 (Fig. 4) formed between the base and button portions. As can be seen, the button portion is adapted to be inserted through the opening formed by the intermediate U-shaped portions of the wires, with the narrow portion fitting between the sides of the loop 16 so that, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the member 18 along with a piece of pliant material 26 can be thus engaged in the loop with portions of the material caught between the sides of the loop and the narrow portion of the member. For example, an ordinary wash cloth may be folded in half and the member 18 positioned in substantially the center of the folded cloth. The portions of the cloth extending beyond the ends of the member 18 are then folded over the top of the member 18 in overlapping relationship. The wire loop 16 is then slid on over the button portion and overlapping ends of the folded cloth, thereby securing the overlapping ends of the folded cloth tightly over the button portion of the member 18.

The button portion is increased in thickness from front to rear so that when the member is engaged in the loop and pushed forward against the closed end of the loop, rearward movement of the member is restricted by the thick rear end of the button portion abutting against the upper part of the intermediate U-shaped portions in the wires. This is most clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. While this feature is considered desirable, it is not necessary, be cause with sufiicient pressure from the sides of the loop, the member and material will remain in position quite well for ordinary use of the appliance.

Referring now specifically to Figs. 3 and 4, a piece of pliant material 26 is shown wrapped around the member 18, with the member and material shown engaged in the loop. It can be appreciated that the material may be wrapped around the member in an endless variety of ways, the requirement being that portions of the material be caught under pressure betweenthe sides of the loop and the narrow portion of the member so that the sides of the loop support the material preferably across the bottom surface 27 of the base of the member and support the member and the material finally to the handle 14. The bottom surface 27 of the base of the member then afiords a backing for a portion of the material which is intended to contact the object being scrubbed.

Depending upon the amount of material used, it is evident that the sides of the loop will be sprung apart by the insertion of the member and material and they will exert pressure on the material against the member. In order to increase the pressure exerted by the sides of the loop on the material and to dispell any concern about the loop acquiring a permanent distended set, a bracket 23 may be coupled between the pair of wires 10, 12 so that it is slidable between the handle and the bend in the wires. The bracket is slid forward from a position near the handle toward the bend in the wires in order to increase the pressure by compensating for increased spacing between the wires near the bend brought about by the insertion of the member and material into the loop.

The member 18 is preferably made of plastic or of wood painted with a good enamel, although it is entirely possible to make this member of a more pliant material, such as felt forexample.

Several successful embodiments of the invention have been constructed. In some of these, the button portion 22 of the member 18 was made of uniform thickness and the bracket 28 was omitted. This arrangement proved made of a good quality steel.

It is to be understood that the extension or wire portion located between the loop 16 and the handle 14 can be formed in various configurations to suit the use of the device. Preferably, it is curved slightly as shown in Fig. 2.

I claim: a V

A scrubbing device utilizing a removable cloth, said device comprising a handle, a continuous wire member secured to the handle and including a first U-shaped portion lying in a first plane, and pair of elongated substantially parallel portions lying in a second plane that is substantially parallel with the first plane, and intermediate U- shaped portions connecting respectively the ends of the first U-shaped portion with the two substantially parallel portions, the intermediate U-shaped portions lying in a common plane extending substantially at right angles to the longitudinal extent of the substantially parallel portions of the wire member, with the bight sections of the intermediate U-shaped portions projecting away from each other to form an elongated opening, and a clamping member for securing the cloth including a broad flat bot- 7 tom portion substantially wider than the width of the first U-shaped portion of the wire member, a wedge-shaped button portion having a width slightly less than the distance between the bight sections of the intermediate U- shaped portions of the wire member, whereby the button portion of the clamping member may pass through the opening formed by the intermediate U-shaped portions of the wire member, the button portion being joined to the bottom portion of the clamping member by a narrow portion forming with the bottom portion and the button poras the wires were 7 '4 tion of the'clamping member a pair of parallel grooves for slidably engaging the sides of the first U-shaped portion of the wire member, the thickest end of the button member being slightly greater in thickness than the space between the sides of the intermediate U-shaped portion and the thin end of the button portion of the clamping member being positioned adjacent the bight section of the first U-shaped portion of the wire member when the clamping member is in position, the length of the narrow portion of the clamping member being slightly less than the length of the first U-shaped portion of the wire member, whereby the thickest part of the button portion of the clamping member isadapted to engagein abutting relationship the intermediate U-shaped portions of the wire member where they jointhesubstantially parallel portions thereof, for restricting movement of the clamp ing member when in clamping position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 498,527 Willard May 30, 1893 522,174 Worden et a1 June 26, 1894 594,568 Shedlock Nov. 30, 1897 745,777 Brown Dec. 1, 1903 1,681,967 Zorn Aug. 28, 1928 1,723,588 True Aug. 6, 1929 2,218,521 Brinthall Oct. 22, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 15,917 Great Britain of 1905 

